Abstract: The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of contemporary evidence regarding the nature and outcomes of existential therapeutic practices. A brief summary of the existential model of clinical distress is presented, followed by research into the key elements of existential practice: phenomenological methods, relational practices, and helping clients to address the existential givens of existence. The paper then reviews systematic evidence on the effectiveness of existential therapies. This indicates that meaning-oriented therapies show moderate to large effects on experiencing positive meaning in life, level of psychopathology, and self-efficacy. However, evidence for the effectiveness of other existential practices is currently limited. Further research on the outcomes and nature of existential therapeutic practice may contribute to the validation and improvement of this approach.Keywords: Existential therapy; literature review; meta-analyses Existentielle Therapie: eine Diskussion und Betrachtung der